SeriesAvid Pro Tools

Avid resolutely keep with their delirious policy with Pro Tools 12 as a permanent internet connection of the workstation is now mandatory, which is only a thinly disguised way to spy even more on users. As a reminder, this update is out while version 11 is still not really complete - a consequence of their virtual monopoly on this market which itself owes a lot to many users' lack of curiosity. I've been a sound engineer for four decades now and have experienced many technological evolutions (including the shift from analog to digital), and I can assure that, had we reacted just like these fanboy Pro Tools users, we still would be stuck with mono optical sound. Have a nice time making sound!

The installation is easy, the hardest is managing the iLock account. Being used to Cubase, I was a bit lost at first. The hardest for me was setting up the D/A inputs and outputs of my racks, as well as the buses and sends. I haven't found any incompatibilities for now. I haven't studied the manual enough for now. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V Premium Processor: intel core i7 3770 RAM: G-SKILL Extreme3 PC12800 Trident X CAS7 Hard Drive: SSD 840 PRO Samsung Soundcard: Motu 828 MK2 FireWire Its performance is excellent, the 64-bit buffer allows a very reliable latency and the direct monitoring is indispensable to record audio with big VST sessions. Pro Tools 11 works correctly and is stable, for the time being.... OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for 1 and a half months. I have only tried Steinberg's Cubase before. What I like best: Its performance handling software like east west or vienna. What I like the least: That it doesn't have direct monitoring on the non-HD version and, especially, that it doesn't have an equivalent to MAP EXPRESSION and other details cubase has. But most of all, the incredible complexity to switch to pro Tools HD which means forking out over 5,000 bucks... I feel sorry for those who have a PCIe or thunderbolt card, who are forced to buy and AVID card even if they already have the best of the best. It must be hard...

Avid Pro Tools 9 is a top quality software to get your complete songs recorded mixed and mastered right at your finger tips. I have been in about 10 different studio’s within an hour radius of here and every single one of them at the time was using Pro Tools 9 by avid. They where actually the ones who inspired me to purchase it so I could be very fluid with it so when I came in to record I would have to waste time trying to figure out how to get the sound that I want. I purchased this from Avid’s website a couple years ago and got the box version just incase, I always like having a hard copy of something around. You could also get the downloaded version which I think was a little cheaper since they didn’t have to ship you the cd and manuals. You can still get the manual online if you get the downloaded version. Or you can get the manual if something happends and you lose yours from your hard copy version. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I ran Avid Pro Tools 9 at home on my mac and I must say it worked perfectly. I am not to sure how it would have worked on my old mac. But I purchased a new mac about 6 months before I purchased Pro Tools 9. So basically it was like a brand new set up to me and I had a lot too learn. I have used several versions of pro tools m-powered so I kind of already had the feel of how pro tools worked. OVERALL OPINION Avid Pro Tools 9 will give you every thing you need and I mean every single thing you need to do your complete song and master it. If you have a good ear and understand how to mix and master you an do it all your seft right at home. All you need is a decent set of monitors to reference on and you can do it all your self. There is no need to go to the big studio’s anymore to record and get a good master because with this program you can do it at home. Its not cheap to purchase though, it will require a good investment on your part. But its well worth it.

Avid finally went to downloads only for Pro Tools 10. Which is much preferable for me than waiting for a boxed package to arrive. Buy download, install, work! I like it. Install and dongle update went without any issue. For an Avid product the manual is actually comprehensive and easily enough digested. The new features on Pro Tools 10 is what made me jump on an early version and it runs fairly stable to my surprise. The stand outs for me are that Audio Suite plug-ins know can be frozen. I rather would've had track freeze but I will settle for this for now. Also object based volume automation ala Samplitude/Sequoia. Which for some one like me that has spent many years in Smaplitude/Sequoia is a must. Unfortunately you need the Complete Production Tool Kit or HD system to convert object based automation into volume curves. Oh well...I don't think I want to spent another 2000 for that. The other thing I'm missing that's part of the tool pack is that you can customize your system cache and various other settings for performance improvements. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE It works as advertised. Still has some of the Avid/Digi Design oddball concepts I will never understand. Like that short cuts aren't user definable. And worse what about commands that don't have short cuts. I will never understand that. Finally Avid stopped claiming that none needs or wants the ability to record at 32 bit float. Guess after years of Steinberg doing it finally it was acceptable. WHich raises a bit of an issue with backwards compatibility. But Avid actually took care of it. The file extensions are no longer .ptf they are now .ptx. And if you have a project that has 32 bit files you want to open in a prior version of Protools you need to save it as "earlier version Protools 7-9" where it converts those to 24 bit files. OVERALL OPINION I work in it, there is room for improvement. The 299 upgrade is IMO too high it should be 199.- but it is a necessary evil.

I have been looking at the 'free' versions of leading DAW lately. I owned a PT 11 and have been working in it for my video production requirement though I am only a 'self learned engineer'. However, I could produce outstanding sound track part with the competition or even better. Studio One especially version 3 is a beautiful piece of software. It is light weight compared to many other competitor product. I like it a lot and in some areas it excels it competitors. Even though I would want to continue keeping Studio One as one of my DAWs, I miss few things which makes me think if I have to bring in S1 as my primary DAW. I am comparing Pro Toots | First and Studio One 3 Prime. Below are the major areas making me think. Included Instruments and Plugins Mixing Windows I have recorded guitar and vocals using a dynamic mic - SM58 and condenser Rode NT1A. Both Pro Tools First and Studio One 3 Prime sounded equally good to my ears. However when I started adding effects, somehow S1 lacked something compared to PT First prima facie. Also when more tracks are added, S1 Prime seem to be bit behind in placing the tracks in its right place compared to PT First. When it comes to the instruments, PT First has the same Xpand! available which is found in fully paid versions. The quality of instruments and the possibility of tweaking and customizing PT F and Xpand1 is far ahead of S1 Prime and Presence. Individually the many of the instruments sound good but to my ears, comparatively they lag behind the cutting edge pristine quality of Xpand!. Another thing I struggle is the mixer section compared to PT. Many a times I am lost compared to the ease, clarify flexibility of the mixer section found in PT F. One window concept is good and compact especially when you have limitation of display span. This is my opinion based on the kind of work I do. However, S1 3 Prime, even though it comes free, is good enough for beginners to go forward with their work and later upgrade to S1 pro versions. When comparing S1 3 Prime and PT F, one things needs to be seriously looked at, in my opinion. Would people prefer S1 3 Prime if PT First remove the restriction on maximum 3 projects? Though I have only pointed out few thing which put S1 ahead of competition, I have no doubt that it is a super piece of software with great functionality, solid performance with minimum to no headaches in small setups like I have.

The Education Edition of Avid’s Pro Tools 10 is a DAW that you can record up to 96 total tracks with. It comes loaded with over 50 plug ins and VST instruments. It can run on a Mac or a PC and installs quickly and easily. In order for you to get this version of Pro Tools you will need to show that you have been enrolled into an official college. I have had this since I was a freshman and purchased it right after my professor who is an engineer told us about this deal. I was happy that I did not have to pay full price for Avid Pro Tools 10. Also it comes with free upgrades for a few years which is a huge bonus because you will not have to spend any money at all for years to come. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Using Pro Tools 10 (Avid) will give you latency free recording and monitoring. You can have any amount of channels of simultaneous ins and outs up to 32 and it can take a ton of different file types like MP3 WAV or AIFF files (and many more). The layout of this version of Pro Tools is very similar to most all of the versions, it is easy to understand if you are already use to working with Pro Tools and if you are a beginner then this is a great place to start. OVERALL OPINION I was recommended this software by my professor and now I have a chance to use the same software that the pros use and that we use at school right in my house. It comes with iLok and is ready to go right out of the box. You will need to make sure your computer is up to date and has good RAM or you will run into some problems when working with some of the plug ins and effects. It can really slow down your system if you are on an older computer.